Press-plate.



A. w. FRENCH.v

PRESS PLATE.

APPLxcATlon HLED JUNE 10. |916.

Patented Fe'b.19', 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. w. FRENCH.

v PRESS PLATE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE l0. 19|6.

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Patented Feb. 19,1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ALFRED W, FRENCH, 0E Prana, omo.

rEEss-PLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 19, 1918.

Application filed June 10, 1916. Serial No. 102,972.

To all whom '5t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED WV. FRENCH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Piqua, in the county of Miami and State of Chio, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Press-Plates, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to press plates analogous in some respects tothose shown in my co-pending application 24,512, filed April 28, 1915,which are used in presses for expressing oil from previously formedcakes of oil bearing material.

Cotton seed presses heretofore have been provided with press platesforming box-like structures which telescope so as to prevent the cakefrom spreading or being squeezed out from between the plates while beingcompressed. In these prior constructions the box-like structures requirea relatively large amount of vertical space, so that only comparativelyfew cakes can be compressed at one time in a press. It has been foundthat a previously formed cake can be subjected to considerable pressurebefore the tendency to spread or squeeze out becomes serious.

@ne of the objects of this invention is to provide press platesconsisting of main or supporting plates and smaller plates securedthereto, and retaining walls so arranged on the main plates andproportioned as to telescope with -the adjacent smaller plates or otherequivalent parts of the press plates after the press plates have beenpartly moved together and before the cake begins to spread. In this waythe press plates and retaining walls occupy less space vertically andthus make it possible to press a larger number of cakes at one time in apress. Other objects of the invention are to provide press plates ofthis kind with retaining walls or dams of improved construction andarrangement which serve to guide the cakes when placing them in thepress and facilitate the releasing and removal of the cakes after theyhave been compressed; also to provi-le the retaining walls withmeans-for permitting the escape of all of thev oil expressed from thecake and preventing the same from returning to the cake when thepressure is relieved; also to so construct the press plates and cakeretaining means as to prevent the pinching of the press cloths betweenthe press plates when the cakes are being coinpr'essed; also to improvetheconstruction of screws or the like a.

devices of this kind in other respects hereinafter mentioned andclaimed.

ln the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a press plate embodying the invention withthe supporting plate thereof, partly broken away to show the smallplate.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

F ig. 3 is a fragmentary transverse sectional elevation, on an enlargedscale, of two press plates showing the same in positions which theyoccupy relatively toeach other before pressing the cake.

Fig. i is a similar view thereof showing the two plates in the positionin which the cake has been partly compressed.

Fig. 5 is a similar view thereof showing the two plates in the positionswhich they occupy when the cake has been fully coinpressed.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of one of the press plates.

F ig. 7 is a fragmentary transverse sectional elevation of three pressplates of-a modified construction showing the upper two plates in thepositions whichthey occupy before the cake is compressed, and showingthe lower two plates in the positions which they occupy when the cake isfully compressed.

Fig. S is a similar view of another construction.

The press plate comprises a main or supporting plate A and a smallerplate E which is secured to the lower face of the supporting plate byany suitable means, such as The main supporting plate is provided withthe usual notched portions a a2 near the front and rear corners thereoffor links or devices (not shown) which connect adjacent plates. Anyother suitable means for connecting the press plates may be employed.The two component plates or portions A and B of each press plate areprovided with a plurality of oppositely arranged registering groovesextending longitudinally of the plates and forming oil draining channelsC between the two portions of each press plate, and the main orsupporting plate is provided with numerous small perforations c forconducting the oil from the upper surface of the plate to the oilydraining channels. The upper and lower surfaces of the press plates arepreferably provided with ridges or corrugations c which prevent thestretching or spreading of the press cloths when the meal cakes aresubjected to pressure. These parts in themselves constitute no part ofthis invention and except as hereinafter explained maybe of any suitableconstruction.

Each press plate A is provided on its upper face at opposite sides withtwo calze-retaining strips or walls which are arranged so that thesmaller plate B of the next press 'plate above can telescope betweensaid walls when the press plates are moved together to compress thecaire7 the retaining'walls preventing the spreading or squeezing out ofthe. cake when the same is being compressed. The cake-retainingv stripor wall shown in Figs. l to 6 inclusive consists of a metal bar Dsuitably secured by rivets l on the upper face of the supporting plate.Each bar D has an upwardly projecting fiangefor part d and is providedat its inner side, or side adjacent Vto the meal cake, with an inclinedface d2. The lower edges of these inclined faces engage with the sideedges of the cake or press cloth at the bottom of the caire to properlycenter and guide the cake as it is being inserted between the pressplates. Nhen the cake has beenv fully compressed itcan be readilyremoved from engagement with the inclined face of the press plate byinserting a thin bar or blade of any suitable kind under the cakeadjacent to the inclined face (Z2. This can be done from the front sideof the press and avoids the necessity of driving the cakes forwardlyfrom the rear of the press, as is necessary in the case of pressesprovided with the rearwardly converging retaining walls with uprightsides heretofore used. The compressed cake when thus released fromengagement with the retaining wall can be readily pulled forwardly outof the press. Thus one man at the front of the press can readilylrelease and remove the cakes.

The small plate B is made slightly wider than the meal cake to becompressed and the retaining bars are so spaced that the small plate canenter between the flanges fl thereof.; as shown in Fig; 5, when the cakeis being compressed. By providing the retaining wall with the inclinedface cl2, the bot` tom of which acts as a guide to assist in thepositioning of the oil cake between the plates, the pinching of theportions of the press cloth at the upper edges of the cake is preventedsince the inclined faces of the retaining bars space the meal cake atsome distance from the flange or upper part cl of the retaining wall.

lVhen the cake has been fully compressed as shown in Fig. 5, it isdesirable to drain all of the oil which has been expressed from the cakeaway from the edges ofthe cake so that when the pressure is relievednone of the oil will be again absorbed by the cake. For this tween thewall d and the side of the smallk plate B will drain out so that itcannot again return to the cake when the pressure thereon is relieved.Any other means for draining Y the oil from the space between the walland the small plate may be employed if desired.

In the construction shown in Fig. 7, the smaller plate B on the lowerface of the supporting plate A has its side edges bent downwardly or isformed with depending lips f having concaved under-faces f. The upperface of each supporting plate A is provided with a retaining bar G ofsubstantially angular shape having an upwardly extending flange or leg gforming a cake-retaining wall. In this construction the depending lip freduces the space or gap between the small plate and the retaining wallg when the parts arey in the position which they occupy before thecompressing of the cake has begun- The retaining bar G. in thisconstruction, is not provided with an inclined inner f ace but its innerface is upright and the bars are placed with their upright inner facesthe 'same distance apart as the lower edges of the inclined faces Z2 inthe firstl construct-ioni The pinching of the press cloth between thesmall plate and the wall f/ is prevented by the depending lip f and thecurved portion f of the plate B adjacent to the lip. During thepreliminary pressing of the cake the upper portion of the press clothtends to follow the curvature f of the small plate B so that the outeredges of' the upper portion of the press cloth are bent downwardly bythe curved portion of the plate, as shown in the case of the cakebetween the lower two plates in Fig.- 7, so that if the upper edge of apress cloth extends beyond tlie lip f, itfwill be drawn inwardly by thecurvature f Vof the small plate.

In this construction the upwardly extending flanges or walls g of theretaining bar are also provided with transverse slits or incisions fordraining the oil from the space between the small plate and theretaining wall G. The upper edge of the retaining wall g is curved orbeveled as shown at g in order to guide the small plate into propertelescopic relation between the retaining walls in case two adjacentpress plates be-- come slightly displaced 'with regard to each other. InthisV construction'the upright in ner faces of the walls G act as guidesfor the cake when inserting it into the press.

In the modified construction shown in Fig. 8, the small plate B2 issubstantially the same as the small plate used in the construction shownin Figs. 1 to 6, and the retaining bar is similar to the one provided inthe construction shown in Fig. 7. The adjanemers 'cent edges z. and i ofthe small plateand retaining bars respectively are beveled or inclinedin such a manner as to guide the small plate into telescopic arrangementin regard to the retaining bars in case adjacent press plates becomeslightly displaced and also for the purpose of preventing the pinchingof the press cloth between the adjacent plates.

By means of the several constructions shown in the drawings the upperedges of the retaining bars and the lower edges of the small plates areseparated from each other when the press plates are fully separated, orbefore the cakes are compressed, to such a degree that the preliminarycompression of the cakes may be accomplished beforethe small platesenter between the retaining walls of adjacent press plates. Thetelescoping therefore does not take place until it is actually necessarysince the spreading of the cake does not take place to any appreciabledegree before the oil begins to flow from the cake, and this does notoccur until after the cakes have been partially compressed. By means 0fthis arrangement the press plates can be made comparatively thin so thatthey occupy less space vertically in a press than the plates of priorconstructions, and at the same time the spreading of the cakes to such adegree as to prevent the edges thereof from being properly pressed isavoided. The capacity of a press provided with plates of this kind istherefore considerably increased. By securing the retaining bars orwalls on the upper faces of the press plates the retaining bars act asguides for assisting in properly positioning the cake between the pressplates. By so constructing the small plate and retaining bars as topermit the small plate to enter between the retaining bars, the openspace between the upper edges of the retaining walls and the adjacentplate can be made considerably less than in constructions in which thesmall plate does not enter between the retaining. walls, thereby makingit possible to construct the retaining means of sufficient height topositively prevent a spreading of the meal cake. The means provided forpreventing the pinching of the press cloth between adjacent press platesgreatly increases the life of the press cloth and decreases the cost ofoperation.

I claim as my invention:

l. Press plates adapted to be arranged one over another in a press andeach comprising a supporting plate and a separate narrower plate securedon the underside of said supporting plate, said plates being ofapproximately equal thickness and having drainage channels formedbetween them, and said supporting plate having perforations leading tosaid drainage channels, and cake retaining and guide bars projectingupwardly fromthe upper sides of said supporting plates, the total depthfrom the lower edge of said narrower plate to the upper edge of theretaining bar of one press plate being such that when the press platesare fully separated in the press an open vertical space is left betweenthe retaining bar and narrower plate of adjacent press plates, and thenarrower plate of each press plate being arranged and being of a widthadapting it to enter between the retaining bars of the next press platewhen the press plates are moved toward each other.

2. Press plates adapted to be arranged one over another in a press andeach comprising a supporting plate and a separate narrower plate securedon the underside of said supporting plate, said plates having grooves intheir adjacent faces which register to form drainage channels betweenthe supporting and narrower plates, and said supporting plate havingperforations leading to said drainage channels, and cake retaining andguide bars projecting upwardly from the upper sides of said supportingplates, the total depth from the lower edge of said narrower plate tothe upper edge of the retaining bar of one press plate being such thatwhen the press plates are fully separated in the press an open verticalspace is left between the retaining bar and narrower plate of adjacentpress plates, and the narrower plate of each press plate being arrangedand being of a width adapting it to enter between the retaining bars ofthe next press plate when the press plates are moved toward each other.

3. Press plates adapted to be arranged one over another in a press andeach coniprising a supporting plate, and a separate narrower platesecured on the underside of said supporting plate, said plates havingoil drainage channels formed between them, and said supporting platehaving perforations leading to said drainage channels, and cakeretaining and guide bars projecting upwardly from the upper sides ofsaid supporting plates and being spaced apart a distance sufficienttoadapt said narrow plate of one press plate to enter between the upperportions of said bars of the next press plate when the press plates aremoved toward each other, the lower portions of said retaining and guidebars inclining downwardly and inwardly to center and guide the cake andfacilitate the releasing of the "compressed cake, the total depth fromthe lower edge of the narrower plate to the upper edge of the retainingand guide bar of one press plate being such that when the press platesare fully separated in the press an open vertical space is left betweenthe retaining and guide bar and narrower plate of adjacent press plates.

4. Press plates adapted to be arranged one over another ina press andeach co1 prsing a supporting' plate, and a separate narrower platesecured on the underside of said supporting plate, said plates havingoil drainage channels formed between them, and said supporting` platehaving perforations leading to said drainage channels, and cakeretaining and guide bars projecting upwardly from the upper sides ofsaid supporting plates and being spaced apart a distance sufficient toadapt said narrow plate of one press plateto enter between the upperportions of said bars of the next press plate when the press plates arelnoved toward each other, said narrower plates being` provided withdown-curved edge portions for Copies of this patent may be obtained forve Cents each, by addressing the Commissioner Washington, D. C.

preventing the press cloths from being.;

pinched between said plates and said retaining and guide bars,- thetotal depth from the lower edge of the narrower plate to the upper edgeof the retaining and guide bar of one press plate being such that Whenthe press plates are fully separated in the press an open verticalspacecis left between the retaining' and guide bar and narrower plate ofadjacent press plates.

l/Vitness my hand, this 7th day of June, 1916.

ALFRED W. FRENCH.

Witnesses:

FRANCES MCCOY,

RICHARD HERBERT.

of Patents,

